20% of Australian-managed fisheries still in the red

Having a rough time: most Australian stocks of Orange Roughy remain in the red © WWF-Canon / Richard WILSON, Rockhopper Click to enlargeSydney, Australia, 4 July 2007—TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, is concerned by today’s announcement by Senator Abetz, Australia’s Minister for Fisheries, that 20% of Australian fisheries are overfished and/or subject to overfishing.

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Taking a walk on the wild side

A lunchtime event at SBSTTA focussed on the International Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP)Paris, France, 3 July 2007—Plants took centre stage today during the 12th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), currently taking place in Paris.

SBSTTA comprises government experts who provide reports and make recommendations to meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

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Stamp of approval for caviar

This caviar is probably from an illegal source: a new caviar labelling scheme will help purchasers identify which tins have legal contents © TRAFFICCambridge, UK, 29 June 2007—From 1 July 2007 all caviar sold in the UK must display labels approved by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

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Lost without TRACE: tracking down wildlife crime using forensics

Rob Ogden of TRACE and Steven Broad of TRAFFIC sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizationsCambridge, UK, 28 June 2007 - TRACE (Technologies and Resources for Applied Conservation and Enforcement), a new non-profit organisation, has launched an initiative to promote the application of forensic science in combatting wildlife crime, in collaboaration with TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

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CITES: Commercially traded species big losers

The CITES meeting could go down in history as a critical missed opportunity to list Spiny Dogfish

The Hague, The Netherlands, 15 June 2007 – The 14th CITES Conference ended today with TRAFFIC and WWF applauding some sound conservation decisions, but ruing other missed opportunities.

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CITES: 18 year ivory deadlock broken—WWF/TRAFFIC

Africa came to a deal over ivory sales, but the key issue of how to tackle the illegal domestic ivory markets remains unresolved © Martin Harvey / WWF-Canon Click to enlargeThe Hague, The Netherlands, 14 June 2007—African range states have come together to break an 18 year ivory impasse, a significant move that is applauded by WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. There had been much division across Africa going into the CITES meeting.

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CITES backs red, pink and other corals

Red corals are widely used for the manufacture of jewellery © Crawford Allen / TRAFFIC Click to enlargeThe Hague, The Netherlands 13 June 2007—Red, pink and other coral species in the genus Corallium will be better protected from over-exploitation after CITES today adopted a proposal from the US to list Corallium in Appendix II of the Convention. Appendix II allows trade in a species under strict conditions.

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CITES: Breeding tigers for trade soundly rejected—WWF/TRAFFIC

Raising captive tigers for trade in tiger parts was rejected by CITES member countries today © Save the Tiger Fund Click to enlargeThe Hague, The Netherlands, 13 June 2007—Raising captive tigers for trade in tiger parts was rejected by CITES member countries today and China was urged to phase out its large-scale commercial tiger farms, a major victory for wild tiger conservation.

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CITES: DNA test confirms tiger meat for sale at Chinese farm

Tiger meat was allegedly served in the Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Mountain Village farm restaurant © WWF/Canon/Homo ambiens-R.Isotti-A.Cambone Click to enlargeThe Hague, The Netherlands, 12 June—The CITES governing body today announced it has asked the Chinese government to investigate a tiger farm implicated in illegally selling tiger meat.

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